I'm a newbie to the MD scene and frankly, went into it without doing much research. But I'm also fortunate that I live in San Francisco where we have a Sony Style store, and can look at and play with all the various equipment Sony makes, including the complete line of MD. That said, even without doing research beforehand, I must admit that I lucked out. I bought a Sony MZ-E75 portable player and a Sony home deck (review on that later) at the same time. I had considered buying a portable recorder, but knew that I would want the added features a home deck provided. After looking over all the various players available, what attracted me to the E75 was it's definite "coolness" factor. Of all the units on display, the red and blue/purple unit were the two players that really stood out. That metallic changing-color finish is a definite eye-catcher and conversation starter. I decided to get the blue/purple unit even before I knew it came with the cool backlit remote control.

As for sound quality, the unit is excellent. I've not only tried several different sets of headphones (surprisingly, the ones that come with the unit--at least in the U.S.--sound the best of all the "inexpensive" headphones I tried. I've plugged the M75 into my home system, and the sound is as good as my Sony home deck.

It seems well-built, although I would've preferred to have a metal door on the battery cover to match the rest of the unit. Battery life is very good, both with the internal rechargeable gumstick and the external clip-on. With the external clip-on, the thing just keeps going and going!

An interesting sidenote is that one morning my gumstick ran out of juice on the way to work. I whipped out the clip-on pack and was soon back in business. I didn't think too much about it until later in the day I unhooked the clip-on and discovered that it had RECHARGED the gumstick! This is one feature I haven't heard discussed anywhere, and if my unit is a fluke in this regard, I'm happy to have it!

My only real complaints with the player lie with the remote. First is the tiny clip-on. Sony needs to build in a heavy-duty alligator clip on the remote that's capable of securely attaching to leather shoulder straps on backpacks, etc. The little plastic thing just doesn't cut it. Also, the buttons on the remote need to be made a little larger or more distinct tactilly so you can reach down and adjust volume, pause, etc., without looking or fumbling around.

Even with those small drawbacks, I would still give this player a 90-95 out of 100. Highly recommended! I was in need of a new player, and JandR was selling the red e75 for 100! Usually the unit is sold for 200-230. It was last years model, but this years will be almost no different, so i figured, for 100, it's worth the money. All i must say is, FOOLISH JandR FOR SELLING IT THAT LOW.

After owning a sharp MD-MT15 recorder, i was shocked to open my box with my new player. It's so tiny! i must say...the 8 step EQ is killer, it makes it sound much better than sharps. I really liked the bass on the sharp, but with the EQ, it doesn't matter anymore. The battery life is good with the extra AA case, but that adds to much to the unit. I bought an extra NiMH rechargable, gets me 16 hours alone! The remote is different compared to sharps, sharps is easier to use, but sony's has a better LCD.

The switch from sharp over to sony was a good one. I'm not saying sharp is bad, i would buy one again, but sony defintely has the smaller units with better battery life, not to mention the 8- step EQ.

I highly recommend this player, over the more expensive e90, or the sharp players.